Virtual Town Hall Discussion: Ending HIV in Montgomery County, MD

Maryland's most populous jurisdiction is pushing an ambitious plan to nearly eliminate all new HIV transmissions by the year 2030.

The plan, announced Friday, aims to reduce new HIV transmissions by 90 percent in Montgomery County by:

• Increasing testing in healthcare and community-based settings
• Ensuring every resident living with HIV is connected to healthcare and other services they need in order to stay healthy and prevent transmission to others
• Increasing access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) HIV prevention medication and other prevention tools and education
• Fine-tuning the county's ability to respond to HIV outbreaks in the community

Health officials will explore the county's "Ending the HIV Epidemic" plan at The World AIDS Day virtual town hall discussion on Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Panelists will include Melvin Cauthen (the county's Department of Health and Human Services administrator for HIV/STI services), Connor Hegel (LGBTQ services navigator for Sexual Minority Youth Assistance Leagues), and Ronald Johnson (LGBTQ Democrats of Montgomery County).

The town hall discussion will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. Register at https://bit.ly/38YZvBm.  Gaithersburg Patch